David Codrea.
Per the Independent Voter Project, there are over 1.8 million registered Republicans in Virginia, and over 1million “Independents.”. And per Ammo.com’s “Gun Ownership by State,” 44.6% of households in Virginia own a gun.
Clearly, had more Republicans and gun owners been engaged and voted, the results – and the resulting dangers they pose in terms of “gun laws,” would have been very different. Then again, had a Get Out the Vote effort, sufficient to the task, been seriously mounted instead of ignored, the election that put Abigail Spanberger in power could also have been turned around, and the referendum would never have been advanced.
Well, he has a point, but I’ll be even more direct and insulting (as if that’s bothered me before).
Several reliable sources now estimate that 10 million hunters and gun owners in the U.S. are not registered to vote. That figure comes from a Vote4America survey reported by American Hunter.
Digging deeper, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) highlights “critical swing states” where the numbers of unregistered hunters and shooters are especially high. For example:
- Pennsylvania: about 515,000 unregistered gun owners / hunters
- Michigan and North Carolina: around 370,000 each
- Georgia, Wisconsin, Missouri, Virginia: each with more than half a million unregistered hunters/gun owners
- Less so, but still significant: Arizona (~133,000), Nevada (~59,000), and Montana (~52,000)
Another critical point: since 2020, more than 22.3 million new first-time gun owners have entered the picture. Many of these are not yet registered to vote, but they represent a large potential voting bloc.
Let me be clear. While you older hunters may be making the calculation not to get involved if your ox isn’t gored and you get to keep your bolt action deer rifle, and upland bird hunters may be the same with your shotguns, there isn’t much of a divide between a scoped high powered bolt action rifle and a “sniper rifle” that the controllers want to ban. It’s the same with scatter guns which may be seen as assault “trench sweepers.” I like my bolt action rifles and shotguns too, but please, don’t be stupid and do try to think through this thing with your eyes open.
If you’re sitting this out and ignoring what’s going on around you in favor of being lazy, you’re a food or a Fudd, and maybe both. They’ll come for you too.
You’ve been warned.
Note: I’ve tried to speak directly to Virginian gun owners so many times over these pages that it would be tiresome to find all of the links.
